The subject invention is an improvement in the art disclosed in the inventor's U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,117,796 and 4,478,165.
The field of the invention relates to machinery and tankage for the carriage, in marine oil tankers, of water ballast and liquid cargos, including slurries, without cross-contamination of substances, even if the tankage has not been cleaned. It will be noted that some marine oil tankers are very large and have correspondingly large ballast and cargo tanks.
In the prior art mentioned in the foregoing, the special guidance and control machinery are located in the lower portion of the oil cargo tanks. This location gives rise to certain disadvantages with regards to the total volume of liquid that can be carried in the tanker. These disadvantages are overcome by the subject invention.